


not the jealous type

by syazzypanda



Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:22:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24808465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/syazzypanda/pseuds/syazzypanda
Summary: What we didn't hear during Winston and Alex's conversation outside Monet.Or, Charlie St. George isn't the jealous type. Alex just might change that.
Relationships: Charlie St. George/Alex Standall
Comments: 20
Kudos: 195





	not the jealous type

**Author's Note:**

> I finished rewatching S3 and like hooo boy it was just as messy as I remembered.
> 
> But my main takeaway from S3 was that Charlie had like... barely any interaction with Alex and was ready to commit a felony for him?? Justin basically went to him with “Listen Alex killed Bryce and we need you to frame Monty to cover him” and he did it????? 
> 
> In conclusion, Charlie was interested/had a crush on Alex since S3. Alex really got himself a man who was willing to stick his neck out for him like that and I love that for him. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Charlie never considered himself the jealous type.

It was something that spurred from his trusting nature and desire to see the good in everyone. This extended, maybe especially, to the people he’s romantically involved with. Have people made fun of him and confused his good nature for naivety? Most definitely. Does he care? Not really.

Sure, he might have felt a twinge in his gut in the early days when he’d walk past Alex and Zach in the hallway, the latter with his arm thrown around the former and seeming entirely too cozy with it.

(Monty had sniggered each time, making snide remarks that he suspected “Dempsey probably pity fucked him after he couldn’t blow his brains out and they’ve been gay for each other ever since.”

Charlie brushed off the painful twinge in his gut as indigestion and his silence as cowardice.)

Then came Winston. Beautiful, quiet Winston with those soulful dark eyes and sardonic wit. He didn’t need consoling when Jessica ditched him for Diego at the Valentine’s dance. He was glad that Diego had come to find him anyway, if not just because he had seen Winston and Alex exit the gym, the former with his hand on the latter’s back and heads tilted close together.

(Diego had seen the distraught on Charlie’s face and followed his gaze. It wasn’t hard to guess that Jessica wasn’t who Charlie wanted to be with tonight. While that definitely assuaged the little guilt he felt at stealing Charlie’s date, he still felt bad for the guy.

Charlie appreciated the solid feel of Diego’s hand on his shoulder.)

He hadn’t planned to kiss him after the drill. But Alex had smiled at him, arms crossed when he called himself a freak and Charlie wanted to grabbed onto his hands and tell him no no god no but the words had jammed the back of his throat so when he kissed him all he wanted to say was _I love you I want to take care of you please let me take care of you_ _._

The relief he felt when Alex kissed him back was enough to make his knees buckle.

So when Winston--sad, beautiful Winston--walked into Monet after they had buried Justin, Charlie’s hand immediately tightened protectively around Alex’s, his back straightening as he assessed Winston. He wasn’t alone. Ani and Zach straightened too, their body languages, while not hostile, were not welcoming either.

Alex had turned to him, gently reassuring Charlie with his eyes and quick squeeze of his hands before grabbing his coat and following Winston out. Charlie had tried to keep his hands on him until the last second.

So there they were, watching Alex and Winston talk on the other side of the glass. Ani had her hands balled up in her lap, a muscle on Zach’s neck twitched even as his gaze remained calm. Charlie’s whole body felt like a spring coiled way too tight, on the verge of coming undone. He thought he was doing a pretty good job at keeping a cool facade despite all that.

“Charlie,” Ani’s voice was quiet, breaking through his thoughts. “You need to breathe.”

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, not wanting to look away from his boyfriend. Ani was looking at him, her dark eyes intense and kind, “Winston won’t hurt him.”

“We don’t know that,” Charlie replied.

“I trust him as far as I can throw him, though I’m sure that’s pretty far,” Zach said. His gaze still remained wary, but he nodded in Ani’s direction, “But you’re right. I, uh, didn’t want to bring it up, but when I was stuck with him during the lockdown he told me that he loved Alex, so I don’t think we have to worry about him doing anything.”

If he had intended this to calm Charlie he was mistaken. “How do you know he wasn’t telling you that to trick you into letting your guard down around him?!”

“I don’t know, man,” Zach snapped, a glimpse of agitation rearing to the surface, “He seemed pretty broken up about it. How’d you feel if Alex dumped you?”

That quieted him.

But even Ani gasped when Winston all but melted against Alex, his pale hands grasping at him with a sort of desperation that made Charlie’s chest ache with a phantom pain; the memories of having Alex so close and swallowing his feelings were threatening to choke him.

So when Alex came back Charlie was already on his feet and met him halfway around the table, instinctively opening his arms to let Alex step into them. He wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s smaller frame, the feeling of Alex’s own hands coming to rest around his waist grounding him into the moment. Monet faded away, the sounds fading into quiet and all he took in was Alex’s breathing, the sweet scent of his cologne, and how warm and alive he felt against him.

Charlie was not the jealous type, but the thought of losing this--this love and this boy and this heart, but maybe they were all the same thing?--to someone else was enough to make him hold Alex just a little bit tighter.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading and I appreciate every single one of you. I'm blown away but how nice and supportive the response has been.
> 
> If you've made it this far, I've also created a Discord Chalex chat for anyone who wants to join. A few people have expressed interest but I just realised that AO3 doesn't have a PM feature. Everyone is welcomed, but please be kind :)
> 
> https://discord.gg/bWuAQcm


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